Hide & Seek
by pinkaffinity
Summary: [oneshot] [edwardbella] She needed a great hiding spot if she was going to stump Edward. He probably would find her within a minute of his search, but that didn’t stop Bella from trying.


**dedication: This is for my **_**amazingly awesome **_**friend, twilightlove7. Happy belated birthday, dear! –screams- I HEART YOU! So everybody should go check her stories out, yes? So go DO IT!!**

x.x.x.x

_hide_ & seek

"Now you have to be as human as possible, okay? I don't want to see you cheating."

Edward rolled his eyes. "I _suppose_." Bella grinned and teased him by tapping his nose with her index finger.

"My turn to hide," she said with her hand pressed against her chest, "You count here."

"But counting is so slow, can't I just run after you?" He smirked.

"No, Edward! It's part of the rules! Just count to one hundred; it won't kill you."

"_Fine_," he groaned as much as anyone with such a rich, syrupy voice _could_ groan. He turned his head into the crook of his arm and began mumbling, "One…two…three…"

Bella took off as soon as his eyes were shielded. She needed a good start. Even though she had just taught Edward what hide-and-seek _was_ only a few minutes ago, she knew that he would be good at the childish game. He was good at _everything_.

They were already deep in the forest, and green-tinted light seeped through the canopy of the woods and fell onto her jogging figure. Strangely enough, she hadn't tripped over any roots curving up from the ground. Bella turned and tried to look back through the forest, but she couldn't see or hear Edward. All she saw was green.

_Far enough_, she supposed. Her jogging slowed to a steady walk, and she looked around for places to hide. She needed a great hiding spot if she was going to stump Edward. Not just good- _excellent_. He probably would find her within a minute of his search, but that didn't stop Bella from trying.

Her head peered around, seeking somewhere to hide other than the unoriginal 'behind a tree'. She looked up and then it dawned on her.

Climb _up_ a tree.

Edward would have found her if she had been _behind_ a tree, but Edward would never think to look _up_ a tree. He would never think that Bella was stupid enough to attempt to climb anything other than _stairs_.

So the hiding spot was, in short, _perfect_.

She picked an enormous oak tree with low branches to hide in. She ungracefully wrapped her hands around a branch and tried pulling herself, using her feet to push her body upward. Her shoes grated against the tough bark of the tree as she scrambled to reach a second branch. She slipped a little, skinning her knee, of course. But fingers soon curled around a new branch, and she yanked herself into the green hide-away.

The snappy twigs slapped her playfully in the face, and she got more than a mouthful of leaves as she stepped up to the second branch.

Climbing a tree was a _little_ harder than she had originally thought.

A faint, velvety 'ready or not, here I come' echoed through the forest. Bella could tell by his tone that Edward was _loving_ this game. She grinned and reached up for another branch; she needed to get a little higher so he couldn't see her. Hopefully, the leaves would disguise her.

And then it happened.

It was inevitable, really, it was.

Her fingers just didn't grip right on the branch, and she struggled to keep her hand clasped about it. Her feet slipped from underneath her. A tiny gasp released from her lungs.

Before Bella knew it, she was tumbling down.

The sturdy branches smashed against her body as she made her descent. Her hands instinctively rose to protect her face from the whipping leaves, but that left her bare arms and legs uncovered. The tree's vicious slaps stung her skin, and Bella's hair was getting caught between the twigs, wrenching her scalp to and fro.

She didn't even have time to scream until her figure collided with the moist, leaf-covered ground.

"Bella!" Edward growled from a distance and began running at his inhumane pace but stopped as soon as he saw her.

Bella lay painfully immobile on the damp leaves, paralyzed from shock, but turned her head to see Edward wide-eyed in an opening between two pines, staring back at her.

She sat up half-way, propped by her elbow, and cringed at the pain wracking through her bones. Falling ten feet from a gnarled tree was _not_ good for her system. Her head throbbed, and she noticed that her legs were covered with tiny scratches. She didn't even have to look at her left arm; she could feel the steady flow of blood dripping from her veins.

She groaned and looked at Edward. His fists were clenched tightly at his sides, and his eyes were sparkling with a strange mix of frustration and worry. But his eyes weren't that wonderful topaz color today.

They were a shiny coal-black.

_Excellent day to be thirsty_, Bella thought sarcastically. She strained her throat, but no sound would come out. Edward made a step toward her.

"Bella? Are you okay?" His voice was quiet, gentle- but held back. She could tell that the crimson liquid escaping her body was tempting him, luring him to her.

He hadn't seen her descent; he didn't know. All he knew was that the blood was pouring from her body.

"Edward, please, I j-just fell. No shocker there," Bella stuttered, a poor attempt to cover up her actions.

He looked upset, but kept his distance. The sweet, almost floral scent rising from her body was overpowering. He didn't know if he could restrain himself any longer. He could feel the venom slowly pooling in his mouth, taunting him to murder the only person he never could.

He cringed as he fought back the urge.

"Edward, it's okay, really…" Her speech was starting to slur.

"But," he began as softly as he could.

"No! I don't want to be hurting you like… this. J-just go home, and I'll …uh… go back to Charlie's and… clean… up…"

Her vision was quickly becoming tainted with large black spots; the blood was escaping faster than she thought it was. Bella lifted her muddy hand to her forehead and felt the warm liquid seeping through a gash.

Edward approached slowly, cautiously.

"G…go," she urged him away.

And the last thing she saw was his dark, gleaming eyes; she fainted far too quickly to show any sort of reaction to the thirsty _vampire_ inching ever closer to her bleeding body.

x.x.x.x

Bella awoke with the feeling of mallets pounding against her temples.

_Not_ pleasant.

The strange sound of wind swirled through her ears, and she wondered silently if Edward had killed her… or better yet, _changed_ her. She opened her eyes, slowly, tentatively.

Edward's beautiful, yet shocked, expression smiled down at her. Vomit rose in Bella's stomach as she realized that he was _sprinting_ with her body cradled in his arms. He slowed down, and set her gently on the ground, leaning her against a tree.

"That was so _stupid _of you, Bella Swan!" he exclaimed. "I thought this was _supposed_ to be a game, but then you go jumping out of trees!" He waved his hands around in anger.

"I was hiding!" Her voice was surprisingly strong for someone having just passed out. She looked up at him from her propped spot, and saw his white shirt was stained red in some spots.

Red with _her_ blood.

"Oh, God. Edward, I'm so sorry. Please. Please, leave if it's too much too handle," she apologized while shaking her head.

"Bella," he whispered as he bent down to her eye level. His bronze hair blew in the wind gracefully; Bella still appreciated his beauty even though she was bleeding all over the place. "I could never leave you. _Never_."

"But… it's hard for you… isn't it?" she asked gently. She peered up into his blackened eyes. "You're thirsty?" She stated the fact like a question.

"Well, that most certainly is true." He smiled a sloppy grin and stroked Bella's hair behind her ear. "But I can handle it. Right now, at least."

She raised her hand forehead and felt the hardened scab. "No more hide-and-seek then, I suppose," she said.

He lifted her easily and cradled her body against his cold chest.

"No more _jumping_ from high places." He leaned down and kissed her tenderly on the lips. Despite her condition, she pulled eagerly into the kiss. They broke apart, and Edward grinned as he began sprinting again.

"You really _are _masochistic, aren't you?" Bella teased.

He smiled that wonderfully crooked smile.

"You have _no_ idea."

x.x.x.x

_FIN_

**author's notes: Yay. My first **_**Twilight**_** fic. I hope it was up to par… Well, I really liked writing it. Hope it wasn't too dramatic, or what not. And I hope I got Edward's character **_**somewhat**_** close to how he really is. And please, **_**please**_** review, it'll get me in a mood to write more for **_**Twilight.**_

**And also, someone pointed the word 'masochistic' out in a review. And there are many definitions for it. And although one of them is sexual and what not, I meant it like '****gratification gained from pain, deprivation, degradation, etc., inflicted or imposed on oneself, either as a result of one's own actions or the actions of others, esp. the tendency to seek this form of gratification'. …yeah. So, Edward suffers so he can stay with Bella. …it's not supposed to be sexual… Y'know, all this rambling is making me look stupider. I'll stop now.**

**Disclaimer: Me no own. Stephanie Meyer own.**


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